


Tony Gets a Case of the Blues

by Buckybeardreams



Series: The Classifieds [20]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Baby!Tony, Classifications, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Little!Skye, Littles Are Known, Non-Sexual Age Play, alternate universe - classifications, caregiver!Sam, daddy!Phil, little!Clint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:00:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26627899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buckybeardreams/pseuds/Buckybeardreams
Summary: Sam tries to cheer up Tony while Steve and Bucky are gone.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Tony Stark & Sam Wilson
Series: The Classifieds [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1898527
Comments: 4
Kudos: 79





	Tony Gets a Case of the Blues

The night outside was dark and the sounds of the city were muffled by the thick layer of snow that coated it. Tony was sitting in a lounge chair in front of a floor to ceiling window, staring out at it. His eyes weren't watching the flow of traffic in the streets or the masses of people. His was staring out above the tops of buildings that his towered over. He was staring, but his racing thoughts kept him from really appreciating the impressive view. It really wasn't that impressive when you'd seen it as many times as Tony had anyways. His eyes were red and dry and begging him to shut them. He didn't. He just stared. Steve and Bucky were gone. No, they weren't dead. They didn't leave him. They'd be back in just a few weeks. The exact date of which, depended on various factors. Factors like, whether or not things went according to plan. Whether or not they got injured, or died.

He couldn't help the thought that swirled through his mind that said they lied. They promised him that they'd come back. They shouldn't have. They couldn't guarantee it. What if they didn't? What was he supposed to do then? Of course he'd still have Sam, and he loved Sam, he did. It was different though. Sam was everything he could want in a Caregiver, but he couldn't replace Steve and Bucky. When he was Little they were his brothers. They were part of his family. Sure, he and Sam could go on with out them, but would they ever be the same? Surely losing Steve and Bucky would ruin them. Destroy a piece of their hearts, a fragment of their souls. Steal away a bit of their very essence.

Tony choked on a sob. He didn't want to cry. He couldn't, even if he did want to. The tears had dried up hours ago. Now he was just cold and alone. His penthouse heated to seventy five, yet he still felt a chill inside him. His very being was shivering with dread. What if they never came back? What if they came back, but they were dead? Bodies carried home to be buried. Or maybe they would be captured and tortured just like Bucky had been, like Tony had been.

"I have alerted Sam that you are in need of assistance, sir." JARVIS told him.

He barely heard his words, couldn't acknowledge them. He was falling, crashing, hitting the ground hard. Was he Little? He didn't know. Maybe he was just depressed. Maybe he was both. He couldn't tell. Couldn't feel. It was like he wasn't real. Was he real? Was he even here? Did he exist? Shit. Was he having an existential crisis?

The couple of times JARVIS had requested to call Sam, Tony had told him not too. He must have asked while Tony was lost in his head, unable to answer, if JARVIS was making the call for him. He didn't know how long it was until Sam showed up. Maybe a split second, a blink of an eye. Maybe he'd been waiting an eternity. Either way, Sam did show up.

"Tony?"

He didn't answer, he couldn't. He wasn't sure if that was because he was too Little to, or because he was too lost to find words.

"Come here. Let's go home." Sam said softly, like Tony would shatter if he spoke too loudly.

Sam lifted Tony into his arms. His body moved of it's own accord and he was suddenly clinging to his Caregiver. Don't leave me, he thought. Please.

"Shh, it's okay." Sam said.

Tony didn't know why he was being shushed. He didn't say anything.

"Don't cry, baby boy. I've got you."

Was he crying? He couldn't tell. He just clung to Sam and let himself be carried out of the tower and placed in his car seat. The sounds of the city were louder as Sam buckled him in. Horns honking, people hollering, engines starting. Tony didn't like it. He wanted it all to stop. He desperately wanted everything to just come to a halt. No, what he really wanted was for time to speed up, so Steve and Bucky would be back already. The city lights blurred past in the window and Tony sobbed. His puppy was in his arms, but not even Toutou could make the icky feelings go away. The Curious George soundtrack played, but Tony didn't hum along. He did suck on his paci. It didn't fix everything, but it did make him feel a little better.

"Come on, buddy. Let's get you inside." 

Sam lifted the baby from his seat, shutting the door behind him. He rubbed Tony's back. He was miserable and exhausted and his eyes felt so heavy. His head lolled against Sam's shoulder and he yawned, his pacifier almost falling out of his mouth. It didn't, because he was pressed up against Sam. He suckled a few times, sleepily. Sam hummed Lullaby from off of the Curious George soundtrack, and Tony whimpered. He didn't want to be alone and waiting for the people he loved to return home. He didn't want to sing himself a lullaby about being lonely. He did like that lullaby though. Sam knew that, which is why he sang the words softly to Tony as he opened the door to the apartment.

Tony was so close to asleep, he didn't notice Sam preparing a bottle for him. The Caregiver didn't set him down as he moved around the kitchen. He settled Tony in his arms on the couch and the baby took in a shuddery breath as he was jostled. He didn't get the chance to cry when his pacifier was removed, the bottle replacing it instantly. He drank and swallowed on reflex, his mind already drifting off. Tony was asleep before the bottle was empty. Sam laid him down in his bed and sat down on the edge. He couldn't bring himself to walk away quite yet. His hand brushed through the baby's curls. His breath even and his paci bobbing in his sleep. Sam sighed. He had a feeling these next few weeks were going to be hard on Tony.

Sam always worried when his boys were off saving the world, whether it was a routine mission that had very little chance of going awry, or a complicated one that could easily go wrong. He was used to it though. Six years with them had reassured him that they'd always come back in one piece. Sure, there was no guarantee, something could always go wrong, but he thought that every time. Every time, without fail, they returned to him. Tony didn't have that. He had been around the last couple of years. He had gone to college with them and then two years ago, he offered to let them move into his tower. They didn't really need to, since they had a place at an agency owned building. At the time Sam really hadn't understood why they moved into the tower. Now he wonders if Steve pushed it, because he wanted to be closer to Tony. Even if that was the case, he doubts Steve was even aware of it. Steve tried really hard to distance himself from Tony, yet he had convinced Bucky to give up their apartment, saying that it would be better and they could be so much closer to everyone else. Clint had already moved in, liking the idea of a whole floor to himself. Natasha and Bruce were the last ones to move in, since Tony promised Bruce a lab of his own and a yoga studio. Natasha was sold on the gym, training course, and sparring space.

Thor, who could afford any one of the extremely overpriced places in Manhattan, was, ironically, the first to move in. Tony offered Jane her own science lab, and the astrophysicist was quick to take him up on the offer and it had just been easier for her to live so close to it. She'd only been with Thor a year at that point, but no one doubted she'd be around for the long haul. Darcy was only her assistant at the time, but the Little soon joined their family, and they've been a family of four ever since. Peter was the most recent addition to their friend group and though he technically had a floor, he didn't really live there. The overachiever got himself an internship with SI and Tony quickly took a liking to the boy. Before they knew it, Peter was joining movie night and Wade was setting him up with Loki for playdates. Sam was going to try to set up playdates for Tony, and encourage him to spend time with his friends. Hopefully, that would help distract him. Sam just hoped that Tony would make it through this without being horribly depressed the whole time. He sighed. This was going to be a rough couple of weeks.

* * *

Tony was miserable when he woke up in the morning. He wept in Sam's arms, his tears soaking his puppy as he rubbed it on his face. Sam gave him a bottle hoping to soothe him, but the tears flowed even as he suckled on it. His poor baby. Sam just wanted to take away all of his pain and make everything better. Unfortunately, there were limits to even a Caregiver's powers. Sam read him Curious George stories, and eventually the tears subsided. His eyes were puffy and red and he looked so fragile, it broke Sam's heart. He gave him yogurt and puffs for breakfast. Tony picked them up and stuffed them in his mouth while Sam held onto the yogurt. He scooped bites into Tony's mouth in between fistfuls of puffs. The baby was gurgling and happy by the time they were done. Sam was relieved. Usually, after breakfast, they would make a smoothie, but Bucky was the one who would stand diligently at the counter and stuff ingredients into the blender. Sam was trying to figure out if bringing it up would upset Tony when he spoke up.

"Smoovie?" Tony asked, tilting his head adorably at Sam.

"Of course, baby boy. We always have smoothies after breakfast." He said, as though he hadn't been considering skipping over it.

It would probably be best for Tony if everything carried on as normal, Sam decided. It was true, that there had been two different occasions where Tony had been Little and Steve and Bucky had both been Big. It might not be the norm, but it wasn't the first time it'd happened. Sam pulled out berries and chopped up some mango. He peeled bananas too. Sam offered the ingredients to Tony in bowls, ready to go in the blender. He pursed his lips at them and looked around the room, as though he was expecting to find Bucky there. His lip trembled slightly, but he picked up the slimy pieces of mango. They slipped in his fist, but he managed to get them all in the blender after a few minutes of struggling with them. The bananas were a little bit easier for him. Then he grabbed handfuls of blueberries and dumped them in too. Some of them fell, rolling across the wooden planks, but Sam didn't bother to pick them up. He'd deal with that later. Right now, Tony was his priority. Tony waited for Sam to add water and the green powders. Sam had the lid firmly on and nodded at Tony. Once again his eyes darted around the room. He furrowed his brows, but lifted his finger to press the on button. As Sam expected, he cried when the machine started up. Sam scooped him into his arms, but didn't leave the room. He couldn't leave the blender running, unattended. Tony covered his ears as he wailed.

"There. All done." Sam soothed, rubbing his back when it was all over.

The baby's lip quivered, but his wails turned into sniffles and Sam set him down to pour the smoothie. He downed his cup quickly, before scooping Tony back up and grabbing his bottle.

"Pu'ple." Tony told him.

"It sure is, bud."

"Bucky wike."

Sam smiled softly, trying to keep his sadness from showing.

"Yeah, Bucky likes it when it's purple, doesn't he?"

Tony's lip quivered slightly, but he nodded firmly.

"My Bucky." He said sadly.

"I know, baby. Here you want your smoothie?"

Sam's arm rested on the arm rest as Tony leaned back in the crook of his elbow and drank down his smoothie. He didn't cry, but Sam could tell he was unhappy. His eyes searched the room for the two Littles that weren't there. Sam thought the best thing to do at this point would actually be to mix things up a bit. Sam did his best to distract the baby the rest of the day and decided to call up Phil to see if any of his Littles wanted to go to the Little's museum with them. It was like the children's museum, but set up just for Littles. Tony was a huge fan of the Treehouse Adventure exhibit. It had a calm atmosphere and he was able to wander around mostly in peace. He got shy when other Littles approached him and cried when Clint tried to take him into the Water Works exhibit that consisted of many Littles playing loudly and splashing around in large basins of shallow water. Sam took him to a quiet spot after that and they curled up and read some books in a small reading nook that was lined with pillows and had flowers and butterflies painted on the walls.

Afterwards, they took the kids to get some ice cream. Tony was sitting in Sam's lap on a park bench, lapping at his mint chocolate chip ice cream cone that was running down his hand. Sam wiped at the mess, before it could drip down further, but didn't bother to do a full clean up while the baby was still eating it. Clint had already eaten his ice cream and was running around on the play ground. The toddler was full of energy and Phil looked deeply amused as he popped his head through a hole and grinned at them. He dashed off just as quickly, climbing up the stairs, darting across the bridge and heading for the twisty slide. Skye was also with them and had happily trailed around after Clint at the museum, following him and Phil from one exhibit to the next. The young boy didn't have a very long attention span, but Skye and Phil didn't seem to mind it. She was currently lounging in Phil's lap. She had opted out of a cone, going for a sundae instead, so she had her ice cream in a bowl.

"Daddy!" Clint called out from the top of the slide.

Phil pressed a kiss to Skye's head and set her down on the bench.

"Stay here with Sam, princess."

"Okay, Daddy." She said, scooping up another mouthful of vanilla and sucking it off of her spoon.

Phil went to wait at the bottom of the slide, so he could catch Clint.

"Is it good?" Sam asked, smiling at her.

She grinned up at him.

"Mmhmm!" She said scooping up a gummy bear this time.

"Mm num num num." Tony said in agreement.

Sam chuckled at him.

"Is it yummy, silly boy?" He cooed at the baby.

"Nummy." He confirmed, with a nod.

When Skye got done, she hopped up to go play, dropping her bowl in the trash before heading for the swings.

"Stay within sight, okay, Skye?" Sam told her.

"Okay, Sam."

She really was a pretty easygoing Little, though she could get pretty rambunctious with her older brother, Grant. She was really sweet with the younger Littles and always seemed eager to give Clint anything he asked for. Sam had noticed over the years that all of Phil's Littles doted upon Clint. Ironically, Natasha, who was arguably the closest with him, was also the least likely to just do what Clint wanted to do and the most likely to boss him around. The others seemed pretty content to let Clint have his way though.

Tony played in the sand a bit, and went down one of the smaller slides a couple of times, but clung to Sam when Clint and Skye started up a game of monster tag. Which pretty much consisted of the two Littles running around like crazy and Phil chasing after them. The game ended when he scooped Skye up in a fit of giggles and cornered Clint, scooping him up too. The toddler whined, but Phil just carried him over to his stroller and plopped him in it. Sam watched and laughed at their antics. He was once again impressed by how easily Phil was able to carry both of them in his arms. Sam was strong, but he knew he couldn't pull that off as effortlessly as Phil had. Then again, Phil had so many Littles, he's pretty used to having his arms full. He certainly had his hands full with his seven Littles. Tony was already buckled into his stroller. Sam had wiped him down with wet wipes once he finished his ice cream and now he was napping, Toutou in his arms and a paci in his mouth. Phil pulled Hawkeye out of the stroller basket, handing it to Clint to appease the fussy toddler and Skye cooed at him a couple of times, pressing little kisses all over his face until he was giggling. Sam and Phil shared a fond look at the sight.

"She's a really good big sister." Sam commented.

Admittedly, he didn't see Skye Little that often. She was a computer analyst for the agency and spent all of her time and energy focusing on securing the agency and dealing with any breaches in the system. She also assisted agents in the field and went on missions from time to time herself.

"She really is. Skye's an angel." Phil said, his voice soft and full of adoration as he watched his Littles interact.

Skye climbed up on the back of the stroller, there was a step that she could stand on in front of the basket, and held onto the bar. Phil's arms trapped her in between him and the stroller, his hands on either side of hers as he pushed. They all went back to the tower for Friday night dinner. Jane was cooking a chicken noodle soup when they got their. The delicious smell hit them as they stepped out of the elevator. Skye skipped over to the table immediately, to chat with Tasha. Sam parked the stroller, leaving Tony in it since he was still napping. Dinner wasn't quite ready yet, so there was no reason to wake him up. He joined Wanda at the table. Thor was playing with Loki in the living room and Bruce was reading on the couch.

"Where are your boys?" Sam asked, noticing they weren't there.

"Tommy's with Paul, but Billy is actually on a date." Wanda said.

"Oh, really? I'm glad for him. Is it serious, do you think?"

Wanda hummed thoughtfully, raising a glass of wine to her lips, and taking a sip. She set the glass down before answering.

"I'm not sure. It's new, but he really seems to like the boy, so it could be."

"How do you feel about it?"

Wanda laughed and smiled at Sam.

"I feel like he's a fifteen year old boy. Dating is just a part of growing up. It's a little sad to see your kids get older, but my kids are Little. So, I'll always be able to hold them close and kiss their boo boos. It makes it a little easier. Of course I still worry."

"Of course. I understand what you mean though. I didn't know my boys when they were growing up, but I know they'll always be Little. It makes it easier to let them be Big, I think."

Wanda nodded.

"Billy's never dated before, but it seems like in the past year that Tommy's dated more girls and boys than I can count. Billy, though, he's my baby. I'd never stop him from dating, but it's harder than I thought it would be."

"How's Paul handling it?"

"Oh, he's fretting over it. He just about had a heart attack when I told him Billy had a date." Wanda said.

Sam laughed.

"That sounds like Paul."

Wanda hummed in agreement and chuckled.

"Phil, how are you? Are May or any of your other Littles joining us tonight?" Wanda asked when he took a seat at the table

Phil and May's Littles didn't join them that often, since they tended to be pretty busy, but sometimes they did. Phil shook his head.

"Not this time. They're all working. Grant and May are both in the field. Leo and Jemma are doing some work for Stark Industries."

Jane carried in the pot of steaming hot soup just then, setting it out on a metal trivet that was flat and round. Sam stood up to help her bring out bowls and spoons for everyone. Plastic bowls were filled first for the Littles and set out to cool. Sam woke up Tony when it was time to eat and set him in a high chair next to Loki. They both were given a small bowl with chunks, but no broth, to try and minimize the mess. Phil held Clint in his lap, even though he could sit on his own. Tasha and Skye were attached to each others side and Bruce sat with them, holding his book in one hand as he ate. Wade and Peter weren't there, since they always had dinner with Peter's Aunt on Fridays. Then, if it was Wade's weekend, or Peter had dropped, Wade would take him home afterwards. May worked night shifts on Friday, so she went to work when dinner was done. Jane was sitting next to Sam, the two high chairs pulled close to the table, and Thor sat on her other side. He was playing boo with the babies, who were giggling. Sam was happy to see Tony smiling and having fun.

"Where's Darcy?" Sam asked.

She didn't always come to dinner. She was pretty independent, and often had plans with her friends, so he wasn't surprised to not see her there. Jane set down her spoon to answer.

"Mm, well, she's actually on a date."

Sam didn't miss the way she glanced nervously at Thor. The man's whole body went ridged and Sam laughed.

"Not thrilled about that, huh, Thor?" Sam asked.

"Not really. The boy seems nice enough, but it's always hard to trust people with my little girl." Thor admitted.

Jane sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Our little girl, isn't that little, Thor. She needs this. It's important that we give her space."

"So, you're not worried about it?" Sam asked Jane.

"Not really. Of course, I know she could get her feelings hurt, but she's strong and I don't think the boy would be foolish enough to try to harm her physically. If he does, well, those Krav Maga lessons will really come in handy." Jane said with a smirk.

Sam enjoyed chatting with the other adults and catching up with everyone. He didn't spend as much time at the tower, since he didn't live there, so he always enjoyed seeing everyone. He took Tony home when it was over and that night as Tony was laying in bed, he sang himself a lullaby. His pacifier hanging off his sleeper as the words rang out into the quiet of the room, despite the low volume he sang at. As he sang his sobs started, his voice sad as they were mumbled softly, and almost incoherently, into the night. At one point his breath shuddered and his words broke off for a moment. He sobbed, turning his head into his pillow. A wet spot forming on the pillowcase as he clutched his puppy to his chest. He tried to stop the tears, muttering more lyrics to himself, the words muffled by his pillow. He continued singing until his voice felt raw and his tears had long since dried up. He finally fell asleep, the last few words nothing more than a mumble as they rolled off his tongue and fell off his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> The song Tony sings to himself is lullaby by Jack Johnson, and it's the same song that Sam hums to him. It's off the Curious George soundtrack and I feel like it fits this chapter so well.
> 
> Krav Maga is a form of self defense that originates in Israel
> 
> Thanks for reading, leaving kudos and commenting!
> 
> Feel free to chat with me on tumblr @buckybeardreams


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